ROCK FALL HAZARD MANAGEMENT ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

摘要

The safe operation of a major railway line through mountainous terrain has been a continual challenge for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) since the "Last Spikes" were driven in 1885 at Craigellachie, British Columbia, and at Jackfish, Ontario, completing the transcontinental railway. In 1974, an empty coal train hit rocks on the track, derailed and fell onto the Trans-Canada Highway near Spences Bridge, British Columbia, killing both engineers. Because of this accident, the Canadian Transportation Board ruled that an evaluation be undertaken of the stability of all rock cuts along the CPR and to prioritize sites where stabilization work was required. An initial slope inventory was conducted in both Western and Eastern Canada in 1975, detailed stability assessments were made of each site, priorities were established, and stabilization programs carried out. Data collected during this evaluation became the basis for what has become a sophisticated database system used to store, evaluate and manage rock slope and tunnel information obtained system wide on an annual basis. The system used by CPR today to manage rock fall hazards utilizes existing information from the database, annual inspection stability ratings, rock fall incident history and slope stabilization history for any given slope to identify priority locations.